


The Fog of the Lethe

by Klloggs



Series: Here's how Mayday can still win [1]
Category: Spider-Man (Comicverse), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Gen, Miscarriage, Protective Peter Parker, or at least brief discussion of it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28095510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Klloggs/pseuds/Klloggs
Summary: It was never about the marriage. Of course it was never was.What is the loss of a marriage if the bond, the memories, remain?No, it was a trade. A life for a life.A mother for a daughter.Parker's eyes widened as the realization sunk in, “No.”“Rest assured, Spider-Man. She’ll be in very good hands.”***Marvel wanted OMD to revert Peter to being a swinging bachelor? I'll do you one better, dipshit
Relationships: May "Mayday" Parker & Mary Jane Watson, May "Mayday" Parker & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson
Series: Here's how Mayday can still win [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058282
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I re-read OMD for this and for that I deserve a medal

_“I want your marriage, I want your love.”_

* * *

The slow steady beep of the heart monitor served as the only tether to reality Peter Parker had at the moment, reassuring him that May, the woman who raised him, his _mother_ in all the ways that mattered, was hanging on. Fighting, like she’s done everyday for as long as he could remember.

The scene before him was one that was far too familiar for his comfort: the harsh hospital lighting, the antiseptic scent in the air, the hard plastic chair next to the bed and the gut wrenching silence filling the air while he holds MJ close with one hand and May’s thin fingers with the other.

“I don’t know what to do, MJ.”

“Maybe there’s just nothing to do, tiger.” she held him closer

He didn't respond.

* * *

" _Strange."_

Every single name of the book had been useless as far as Peter was concerned. Even with the hands of the dead, it had been futile. No one could fix this, the mess he’d made and forced the people he loved into.

“We  _ all  _ die, Peter. You, me, those we hold most dearly. We cannot change that. Stop blaming yourself for the inevitable.”

He looked at the sorcerer one last time and took off wordlessly.

May couldn’t,  _ wouldn’t _ , die because of him. When the time came, he'd let her go, but not when her blood was on his hands. When there was something,  _ anything,  _ he could do to change it.  _ He- _

_ “He was right, you know. You can’t change anything,”  _

A very young girl, speaking with a clarity no one so young ought to have, stood before him, reddish brown hair pooling on her shoulders.

_ “but I…”  _ she smiled with dimpled cheeks _ “can.” _


	2. The Deal

“You shouldn’t be out here on your own kiddo,” he crouched to be at her eye level “It’s not safe.”

 _She can’t be older than five_ he thought 

The little one looked at him with wide brown eyes, she didn’t seem scared or even excited about meeting him the way kids usually were, like she knew exactly what she was doing and why but still.. something about her was...

_It was..._

“You seem like a man at the end of his rope, Spider-Man.” she tilted her head slightly “Come on. She’s running out of time.”

_Familiar?_

“What are you-”

“Follow me!” she ran, her little shoes splashing in the puddles of the damp alleyway as she got further and further away

_“WAIT-!”_

He chased after her, frustration rising in his chest as she seemed to vanish behind something or other whenever he got particularly close. Regardless, he heard her voice clear as day.

“You’re _selfish_ , you know?” her voice echoed, almost “It’s always about you- It’s your pain and guilt that guides your actions, your choices”

 _Where_ was _she?_

“Even choices that were never yours to make!”

He turned the corner she’d scurried into only to find it empty.

_Sigh_

“Those are some awfully big ideas for someone your age, missy.”

He’d been so focused on not losing track of the kid that he’d failed to take in his surroundings or process where they’d been heading. 

_The docks._

Peter spotted out of the corner of his eye a small silhouette making its way into a warehouse that had clearly seen better days. He followed.

In the darkness he was greeted by the expected dust and grime characteristic of long abandoned buildings. The moonlight coming from a series of broken windows bathing a significant portion of the warehouse in a blue-ish wash that did nothing to alleviate the all-too-familiar tingling in the base of his skull. Something was up.

That’s when he saw her.

She stood silently staring at him with an unnerving intensity, the light giving the impression of an otherworldly halo outlining the little girl’s tiny frame. 

“You can’t save May,” her melodious, high pitched voice was echoed by a much deeper, much more familiar one “ **_but I can._ **”

_What?_

**_“I’m the_ ** **only** **_one who can”_ **

A blanket of thick, malodorous _-sulfur-_ smoke filled the room as a sinister figure emerged from the shadows with a malicious smirk. 

There he stood:

_“Mephisto”_

**_“The one and only.”_ **

He continued to talk in unison with the little girl. The realization of Mephisto using an innocent _-real or not, the vigilante wasn’t sure, but he wouldn’t stand for it either way-_ as a messenger, a pawn, sparking a flash of hot anger in Peter's chest.

“So _what_ , you want my soul?” he said through gritted teeth “Is _that_ the game we’re playing?”

 **_“Your soul? Oh no,_ ** **that** **_I’ll get regardless, given what’s to come.”_ **

He went on as the girl finally stopped mimicking him, blankly staring forward instead.

 **_“Besides, where’s the fun in punishing a soul when it’ll just find solace in the knowledge that their sacrifice was righteous? No, no. No fun at all.”_ ** he rested his hand on top of the girl’s head **_“You see, I’m looking for a different kind of damnation.”_ **

“Meaning?”

 **_“I deal in the business of despair, loss and regret.”_ ** he explained in a matter-of-fact way **_“You, Mr. Parker, are ménagerie of self-inflicted punishment. As you can imagine, I’ve had my eye on you for quite a while.”_ **

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

 **_“You’ll get your answers when I get mine.”_ ** Peter frowned **_“You said you’d do anything to save your aunt. Prove it."_ **

“Something this big… I don’t get to decide on my own, I have a responsibility to someone else-- I--”

**_“Of course. Allow me.”_ **

At that the fog surrounding them seemed to thicken and shift until it cleared the scummy parking lot of the most recent in a line of shoddy motels he and MJ had been forced to hide out in. 

With a glance, Peter noticed that among the sea of identical doors the one leading to their room was ever so slightly ajar, a massive red flag considering the deliberate care they’d both put into locking every single time they opened it. Ever familiar fog seeping through the cracks.

_“What did you do to her.”_

**_“Let’s ask her ourselves, shall we?”_ **

* * *

Blue-green eyes bore into the literal devil’s own glowing red.

Mephisto towered above the woman before him and yet Mary Jane Watson kept her ground, her mouth stretched into a thin line.

“It’s not my call. Not just mine.”

Having lived the life she had, there were very few things that MJ genuinely feared, this bozo did not make the top 10.

“If I’m to choose, I do it with my husband.” her voice was firm, unwavering

**_“Very well.”_ **

At that very moment the door flung open to reveal a frantic, maskless Spider-Man.

“ _MJ--!_ ” he searched with his eyes the room before visibly deflating with relief at the sight of her

**_“Speak of the devil.”_ **

* * *

A round of _are-you okay_ ’s later, Peter held the back of her sweater, reminding himself she was there, she was _real._

“Stop with the games, Mephisto!” he screamed at him “You want me to suffer but you don’t want my soul, _what is it you want then?!_ ”

 **_“I want what’s most precious to you.”_ ** the demon squared his shoulders as his voice seemed to boom **_“I want your marriage, I want your love, I want the good that's come out of it.”_ **

“ _Fuck_ you.”

“Peter,” the red-head grabbed his shoulders, grounding him “Let’s just--”

She swallowed.

"He said he'd make people forget."

_"What?"_

* * *

“Really?” she asked incredulously, almost sardonically, mere minutes before her husband had stepped through the door “Just like that? No genie-in-the-bottle fee?”

She crossed her arms and squinted. Steadied her stance.

“Why? What’s in it for you?” 

**_“My own amusement, mostly. The one thing more satisfying than unadulterated suffering, is the solitude of not being able to call out for help without risking ending up back in square one.”_ **

"Bullshit."

* * *

"He's hiding something."

"I know."

His breath shuddered as he looked into his wife’s eyes.

“I _love_ you.”

“I know. I love you too. More than anything.”

“This is a lot.”

“I know, I know.” she seemed as lost as he was

The world around them seemed to melt as they discussed what to do.

“Can you-” she hesitated “if we _don’t_ go through with this, can we-- _can you_ _move on? ”_

“I-- I don’t--” his eyes darted down as he spoke “I don’t _know_ , MJ”

“Peter, it wasn’t _your fault._ You need to understand that. _”_ she brushed his cheek with her hand

“But it _was.”_ he said, near pleadingly

“I hate, _hate_ , what im about to say but-- What if it’s just her _time ?”_

The metahuman clenched his fist.

"Even if I could let her go, who's to say you wouldn't go next?" their foreheads touched "Mary Jane, I can't lose you. Not you both. Not because I fucked up."

"Pete..."

He took a breath.

“We need time to decide.” he turned to address the demonic elephant in the room

**_“I’m afraid that’s not an option, Spider-Man. It’s a now-or-never situation, the clock is ticking.”_ **

He moved his hand to rest on the girl’s shoulders instead, smiling knowingly, a gesture that went unnoticed as the Parker’s experienced a whirlwind of emotions at once.

**_“May’s waiting.”_ **

* * *

The clock sitting on the nightstand did, in fact, keep ticking. As grim and grating as the heart monitor from before.

"How does this work? If we say yes, what happens?"

_tick tock_

**_"I simply remove your marriage, a barely a stitch in time."_ **

_tick_

**_"Some things may unravel, some may not. Most will remain unchanged, the world will forget and your dear aunt will wake again."_ **

_tock_

He looks back at Mary Jane, who furrows her brow.

_tick_

**_"It's time."_ **

_tock_

**_"Make your choice."_ **

"We-" he starts

"Do it, Peter."

"But--"

"Listen to me Peter Benjamin Parker. No matter what happens, we _will_ find out way back to each other. I know this and so you do."

Peter gaped at her. She, gently as she could, took his hands in hers. "No matter what we choose, you'll always carry the blame. But this we can fix. I believe that whatver brought us together is stronger than whatever will try to keep us apart. _No force on heaven or hell will ever manage that."_

He stared at into her eyes as if they held the answer for the fucked up situation they'd found themselves in and proceeded to kiss her like it would be their last.Eevn though he knew it wouldn't.

"Let's do this." he raised his head to face the devil once more "It's a deal."

The smoke enveloping them once again shifts and thickens.

Mephisto's laughter reverberated across the room. A low rumbling accompanying it as if the world itself was re-arranging itself to fit it's new reality. Perhaps it was.

Then.

The little girl who's precense had all but faded into the background amongst the darkness seemed to come back to life with a loud gasp, as if she'd been deprivd of oxygen until that very moment.

_T_ _oo good to be true._

The tiny brunette doubled over and fell to her knees, eyes tighly shut as she held her head in her hands.

"H-- Hurts..!"

Instinctly both Peter and MJ lurched forward to help her. 

"Wh-- who--" MJ stuttered "Who _is_ she?"

**_"I think you know."_ **

The only sounds to be heard were the young girl's labored breathing and the franting pumping of the couple's hearts.

 ** _"Osborn did such a good job keeping her safe."_**

_No. Can't be._

It had never about the marriage.

_She's gone! He can't--_

It hadn't been a deal, it'd been a _trade._

_Norman always had a back up._

A life for a life.

_No no no no no **no!**_

A mother for a daughter.

Parker's eyes widened as the realization sunk in

“Mayday.”

**_“Rest assured, Spider-Man. She’ll be in very good hands.”_ **

And with that, the world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some lines are swiped or altered from the original text lmao. real story starts next chap

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, the first two chapters are gonna basically be a OMD retread but stay with me here


End file.
